Hi. I found this website the other day and had to join. I just finished my last Latin course this semester (I'm at the univ. of Memphis; we used the old Oxford Latin Course) and now I'm on my own, at least until the fall semester; and I really don't want all the work I did to go down the drain because I got lazy and forgot everything I learned. So anyway it seems like this is a great place to talk about Latin and Greek. And it's pretty rare, at least in my experience, to meet other people who are interested in Latin.

I'm actually a philosophy student that got interested in Latin because of my love for ancient and medieval philosophy. Hopefully in the future I can learn Greek as well (gotta have two languages for the old PhD), but that's too overwhelming to even think about right now. Anyway, I've got plenty of questions to ask and I could even help out some of the absolute beginners.

How long has everyone here been studying Latin, if you don't mind me asking?

It's wonderful to hear you got interested in latin also from a mediaeval perspective. Here where I live&study, mediaeval latin is mostly ignored and dying. So count yourself as lucky!

I started latin almost by chance 1 1/2 years ago, and I loved the damned language so much it spun my head around and forced me to start graduating in classic studies, and I am now in my first year. Coincidentally, before choosing this, my choice would have most likely been philosophy.

One of my majors was philosophy, and I started studying Latin before my Junior year, so I know where you're coming from. I think you'll find that a broad linguistic and classical knowledge will supplement your studies in unexpected ways.

I'm approaching my two year Latin anniversary this summer, and I'm happy I started as soon as I did. I've been studying Greek on my own intensively for about six weeks now, and I look forward to reaping the fruits of my labor. Mihi crede, amice, you're in the hardest part right now, and Latin will start to become a pleasure and not a chore after you've mastered the grammar and are at leisure to sip from the cup of Latin literature.

As for keeping your skills sharp, regular practice is key. I recommend getting a copy of Lingua Latina Vol. 1 by Hans Orberg, which you'll see is recommended perennially on this site. It'll reinforce and greatly expand everything you've learned in your schooling.

Well, I've wanted to learn Latin (classical Latin. Never had much of an interest in the medieval stuff for reasons I will not go into here) ever since the seventh grade. But I didn't have the money until just recently. And, unfortunately, my printer has run out of ink, so, I can't start studying just yet (I type my notes etc. on the computer). But in a few months I should be able to start.

One of my majors was philosophy, and I started studying Latin before my Junior year, so I know where you're coming from. I think you'll find that a broad linguistic and classical knowledge will supplement your studies in unexpected ways.

I'm approaching my two year Latin anniversary this summer, and I'm happy I started as soon as I did. I've been studying Greek on my own intensively for about six weeks now, and I look forward to reaping the fruits of my labor. Mihi crede, amice, you're in the hardest part right now, and Latin will start to become a pleasure and not a chore after you've mastered the grammar and are at leisure to sip from the cup of Latin literature.

As for keeping your skills sharp, regular practice is key. I recommend getting a copy of Lingua Latina Vol. 1 by Hans Orberg, which you'll see is recommended perennially on this site. It'll reinforce and greatly expand everything you've learned in your schooling.

Nice. This summer will mark one year of Latin study for me. My school offered the the first two Latin classes (1010 and 1020) last summer, so I took advantage of the opportunity and took those two classes, which normally take two full semesters, in two months time. I just finished 2010 and 2020 a few weeks ago.

In the last class, we translated most of cena trimalchio from Petronius' Satyricon. It was pretty interesting and definitely made me realize how limited my vocabulary really is. Coming from the safety of the Oxford Latin Course textbook, in which 85% of the words are straight from the vocabulary, it was a real kick in the pants to have to constantly be looking up the words that Petronius was using. It was very frustrating and discouraging.

I'm gonna check out that Lingua Latina; I've definitely seen it mentioned here a lot.

I studied Latin in high school in Italy, my country of birth. High school lasts five years there. I picked it up again after I joined a Gregorian chant group here in the States. I love all kinds of Latin and I'm studying (Attic) Greek on my own. To keep it fresh in my mind, I read books in Latin (sometimes with parallel text ). Among other things, I'm reading one article of the Summa a day. I love the Angelic Doctor!

Well, I've wanted to learn Latin (classical Latin. Never had much of an interest in the medieval stuff for reasons I will not go into here) ever since the seventh grade. But I didn't have the money until just recently. And, unfortunately, my printer has run out of ink, so, I can't start studying just yet (I type my notes etc. on the computer). But in a few months I should be able to start.

I'm actually learning classical Latin; it's what the Oxford Latin Course uses, although I definitely want to study Medieval Latin when and if I get comfortable with classical. But yeah, I understand the lack of interest in all things medieval.

bedwere wrote:I studied Latin in high school in Italy, my country of birth. High school lasts five years there. I picked it up again after I joined a Gregorian chant group here in the States. I love all kinds of Latin and I'm studying (Attic) Greek on my own. To keep it fresh in my mind, I read books in Latin (sometimes with parallel text ). Among other things, I'm reading one article of the Summa a day. I love the Angelic Doctor!

If you're in a Gregorian chant group, you must be a one of a kind. That's awesome. So I assume you speak Italian? If so, I bet that really helps with the Latin, huh? Just think, if you were to master Latin and Greek, you could read The Divine Comedy, The Aeneid, and The Iliad and Odyssey in the original languages. You would then rule the universe.

And you're a fan of Aquinas! I read a little bit of Anselm in Latin, but I haven't tried the Summa yet. You're reading it in Latin, right?

Aquinas wrote:Nice. This summer will mark one year of Latin study for me. My school offered the the first two Latin classes (1010 and 1020) last summer, so I took advantage of the opportunity and took those two classes, which normally take two full semesters, in two months time. I just finished 2010 and 2020 a few weeks ago.

In the last class, we translated most of cena trimalchio from Petronius' Satyricon. It was pretty interesting and definitely made me realize how limited my vocabulary really is. Coming from the safety of the Oxford Latin Course textbook, in which 85% of the words are straight from the vocabulary, it was a real kick in the pants to have to constantly be looking up the words that Petronius was using. It was very frustrating and discouraging.

I'm gonna check out that Lingua Latina; I've definitely seen it mentioned here a lot.

If it makes you feel any better, I'd say I have a fairly extensive Latin vocabulary, i.e., I read Cicero without having to look up more than few words per page (mainly thanks to the Lingua Latina series), but reading Petronius is still ridiculous.

Way to go with the excelerated course. I did the same thing in a six week course and I can't imagine having to had drag that out over a year's time. I'm taking the same approach with Greek on my own and it's preferred.